Down but not out....the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles will experience finals footy for the first time since 2021 next weekend.
The seventh placed Sea Eagles will tackle the sixth-placed Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in an elimination match at Accor Stadium on Sunday, September 15, at 4.05pm, in which Manly will welcome back brilliant full-back Tom Trbojevic from a shoulder injury.
The Sea Eagles beat the Bulldogs 34-22 victors at Accor Stadium last Saturday night.
Manly will be out to make amends quickly following a disappointing 40-20 defeat to the Cronulla Sharks today in another sold out home match at 4 Pines Park.
The loss meant the Sea Eagles lost the opportunity to host a home final against the Bulldogs.
Manly were on the back foot in the first half against the Sharks and conceded three tries to trail 16-8 at half-time..
The Sea Eagles just couldn’t get going with Cronulla running in four second half tries to consolidate their 20-point victory.
After errors from both sides in the opening sets, Manly winger Lehi Hopoate failed to get enough pressure on a grubber kick from five-eighth Luke Brooks, leading to a no try call early.
Cronulla capitalised and stormed downfield to score the opening try through winger Sione Katoa for a 4-0 lead after four minutes.
The Sea Eagles hit back in the 11th minute when centre Tommy Talau crossed for his 16th try of the season. Full-back Tolu Koula broke through the defence and popped a pass out to Talau who grounded the ball in the corner to level the scores at 4-all.
Manly scored their second five minutes later with a stunning try in the corner for winger Clayton Faulalo in just his third NRL match. Half-back Daly Cherry-Evans placed a crossfield kick in the corner for Faulalo, who beat his opposing winger to the ball to score in the corner for an 8-4 scoreline.
The match was proving to be a back-and-forth battle as the Sharks fought back to score in the corner in the 22nd minute through winger Ronaldo Mulitalo, giving his side a 10-8 lead.
Katoa looked to have scored his second try in the 27th minute only for Talau to come through with a last-gasp diving effort to force the ball out and win possession back for Manly.
After suffering an onslaught of defensive sets in their own half, the Sea Eagles wall unfortunately cracked as the Sharks scored in the 38th minute through forward Jack Williams for a 16-8 lead at the break.
Manly controlled the momentum in the opening stages of the second half but failed to take their chances as Cronulla struck down the left edge through Mulitalo in the 48th minute for a 22-8 scoreline.
The Sharks scored in the 54th minute through Daniel Atkinson to push their lead out to 28-8.
An error from the visitors inside their own 20-metre line gifted the Sea Eagles a try three minutes later through Haumole Olakau’atu. The second-rower carried two defenders with him on a barnstorming 15-metre run to score in the corner and cut the deficit to 28-14.
Cronulla’s Briton Nikora scored tries in the 65th and 70th minute to push his side’s lead out to 40-14.
Koula scored a consolation try for the Sea Eagles with three minutes remaining to soften the blow for a final scoreline of 40-20. Cronulla also regained the Steve Rogers Memorial Trophy played each time the two clubs meet.
The Sea Eagles finished the regular season with 13 wins, 1 draw and 10 losses from 24 matches played.
Manly also sold out eight of their 10 home games. They also won eight from 10 home matches at 4 Pines Park.
Cronulla 40 (Mulitalo 2, Nikora 2, Katoa, Williams, Atkinson, tries. Hynes 6/7 goals) d Sea Eagles 20 (Talau, Faulalo, Olakau’atu, Koula tries. Garrick 2/4 goals).Crowd: 17, 384
